Both Sides Are Affected
by Shadow-TheLastHero
Summary: Trailpaw, medicine cat apprentice of WindClan, faces her biggest challenge when an apprentice shows up, terribly scarred after a fight with a badger. Badgerpaw has to learn to cope with new obstacles. Will she earn her warrior name?


**My first challenge for the Warriors Challenge Forum… X3 I am hoping it turns out good. :D For the Medicine Cat Apprentice Contest. And I finished this the day before I was actually accepted, because I was bored, though I didn't post it until now. Also, this is in the lake territories. This is my story:**

Both Sides Are Affected

Trailpaw worked feverishly to assist the injured apprentice. Badgerpaw had just recently been caught in a fight with a badger, one she had lost. Her brothers, Lionpaw and Tigerpaw, had found her bloody, especially on her shoulders, flanks, and face. The pale-furred she-cat tried as hard as she could to knit the injured apprentice's flesh together the best she could with their low supplies – only a few pawfuls of cobwebs hanging from the corner of the herb supply den and a small amount of goldenrod. She was busy, rushing back and forth until her legs were about to give out, but she had only truly succeeded in keeping her on the thin line of life and death, though she would recover, and little more. The she-cat's ears and eyes were irreparable, leaving Badgerpaw entirely blind, while her legs would be unusable for a long time. The biggest luck she had, though, was the wounds had left her hearing undamaged.

"Wha-what h-h-happened…?" Badgerpaw blinked open her eyes, cringing in pain and opening her muzzle in a silent cry. She managed to contain it and instead added, "Are my eyes open?"

"I'm sorry, Badgerpaw…" Trailpaw replied. "But… the badger blinded you, and you won't be able to walk for at least half a moon."

Badgerpaw half-shook her head, though the pain was too great, and she wailed, "I'll never be a warrior!"

Trailpaw could think of no words to comfort the distressed, black-and-white-furred she-cat.

* * *

Badgerpaw limped around the camp, her left forepaw held off the ground. All the cats quickly moved out of Badgerpaw's way, making a point of ignoring her, and Trailpaw muttered, "I thought WindClan was welcoming, not one to outcast a crippled cat." A sharp cry from Badgerpaw distracted the medicine cat apprentice, sending Trailpaw scurrying. When she was beside Badgerpaw she saw a couple of mouse-brained apprentices, circling her and throwing taunts at her. Trailpaw growled, "Get away from her! She's getting exercise!"

"Fine, fine, whatever you say, _Fail_paw."

The insult struck Trailpaw hard, and she dug her claws into the ground. She managed to keep herself from launching herself at the toms but what they next said sent her into a fury.

"Why didn't you let her die? She's useless to the Clan now! Every cat agrees!"

A low snarl rumbled in Trailpaw's throat and, with a screech of defiance, she charged at the one that had spoken both times. It was bad enough to insult Trailpaw, but to call Badgerpaw useless right to her face?

The tom reared onto his hindlegs, swatting Trailpaw in the side of the face hard, sending her crashing to the ground. But the bi-colored she-cat was beyond angry. She charged at him again, ducking low and knocking his paws out from under him. Quickly managing to pin him she put a threatening claw only a whisker from his right eye and snarled, "Would you like me to claw this out?" When he shook his head best he could, she switched to his other eye, asking, "What about this one?"

"Please, don't!" he wailed. A group of cats had begun to gather around the fighting apprentices when the leader appeared.

"What's going on?"

Trailpaw jumped off the tom with a final hiss, and then said to the leader, "He had taunted Badgerpaw, along with his lackeys, and called her useless. I thought I'd put him in his place."

For a moment she thought the leader would snap at her, but he glanced at the tom apprentice instead and scolded, "You shouldn't have taunted her like that. It's not her fault the badger injured her."

Trailpaw watched the leader turn around and disappear into his den and waited for the rest of the crowd to disperse before adding, "And the name's _Trail_paw, though I guess a mouse-brain like you wouldn't know." She heard the tom growl at the retort, but she just rose to her paws and led Badgerpaw back to the medicine cat den.

* * *

Trailpaw poked her head into the den, going to Badgerpaw's nest. The green-eyed she-cat had recovered remarkably and had recently gotten back to training, though her left forepaw was forever scarred, broken and twisted beyond repair. But the wounds on her shoulders and flanks were nearly invisible, only thin, whitish lines showing where there had been huge gashes left by the badger. Trailpaw sighed in relief that her patient had healed so wonderfully and gently nudged her with a single paw. Badgerpaw slowly awoke and Trailpaw whispered, "It's time. Come on. The rest of the Clan is ready to go."

Badgerpaw stumbled to her three usable legs, her eyes glowing at the thought of her first Gathering since the accident. Trailpaw asked, "Do you want me to help you?"

"Only if I need it," Badgerpaw replied. Trailpaw nodded her head and led the way into the clearing. When the leader saw the two apprentices emerge from the den he let loose a loud call and the Clan coursed through camp entrance like a sleek, muddy river crashing into a gaping, black hole.

"Come on!" Badgerpaw cried, chasing after her Clanmates. Trailpaw was surprised at how quickly the she-cat was despite her injuries, jaws parted so she wouldn't run into anything. Then the medicine apprentice followed her patient into the darkness. A shiver passed through her spine as she went through but she shrugged it off, following Badgerpaw.

* * *

"If you haven't already heard, one of our apprentices was attacked by a badger a moon ago. We warn the other Clans for, when we tried to follow it, we lost its scent at Fourtrees."

Trailpaw watched the four leaders from the spot reserved for medicine cats. She knew what the other announcements would be, at least one for each, and she found herself correct. Each of the other cats announced a badger attack. A kit found dead in ThunderClan, a warrior injured but recovering quickly in RiverClan, and an apprentice found scattered short distance from the Twoleg nest in pieces in ShadowClan. All attacked by a badger. This was no coincidence. Trailpaw remembered with a hint of fear the stories of the badgers rising up against the Clan cats and she knew other cats were thinking of the same thing. Then, without warning, the clearing was plunged into darkness.

Trailpaw let out a squeak of fear and back up, away from the medicine cats, eyes locked on the cloud-shrouded moon. Then she let out a cry of shock as a set of teeth clamped onto her back, dug into her pelt, and raised her off the ground. The star-lit clearing blurred in her vision as the monster swung her back and forth and she saw cats move to help her, though they weren't able to get close enough. When the creature suddenly tossed her in the air, she managed to catch a glimpse of a white-striped, black-furred face before she painfully landed on the ground, held their with a set of heavy claws that were slowly crushing her lungs.

* * *

Badgerpaw had moved first, stopping a short distance from the badger. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was the same one. She crouched low, her injured paw tucked beneath her body, then sprang at the badger that had stolen her sight, clinging to its face as it was too distracted by the other cats to notice the blinded she-cat. Badgerpaw swiped her claws over and over on the badger's face, leaving huge, deep, bloody holes where its eyes had once been. She cried, "I will kill you!" as she did so before scrambling over the badger's head and onto its back. The badger swung its head around, trying to grab Badgerpaw, but she was just out of reach. Her fore claws were now leaving scarlet-painted ruts in the back of its neck, not even stopping when her claws dug deep enough to scrape the badger's backbone. It let out a growl of shock every time the golden-furred apprentice touched its spine then froze as suddenly her claws found the weak spot in the bone, severing the connection from brain to body.

For a sickening moment everything was still and all that could be heard was Trailpaw's ragged, forced breathing from under the badger's paw. Then the monster's head lolled to the side. Badgerpaw managed to jump off, stumbling when she reached the ground, just before the badger crushed her. The blind she-cat rushed to Trailpaw's side and crouched beside her, wishing with every fiber of her being the medicine cat apprentice was all right. When Trailpaw's eyes flickered open and a weary, "Wha-what h-h-happened?"

Badgerpaw let out a gasp of delight and said, "I killed the badger. I actually did."

"I knew you eventually would."

Badgerpaw tilted her head in confusion and Trailpaw explained, "I just felt it in my gut."

Then Trailpaw let her eyes slide shut in sleep and the Gathering disbanded.

* * *

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a Clan meeting!"

Trailpaw struggled to awareness the evening after the badger attacked her at the Gathering. She had been lucky enough to escape with only a bruised side but it was sore to walk around. She got to her paws nonetheless and nudged Badgerpaw awake as well. Neither knew what the meeting had been called for.

The leader sat tall and proud above the clearing and his eyes locked onto the two she-cats. With a flick of his tail he summoned Badgerpaw. The she-cat warily obeyed, standing beneath the leader, eyes widening when he began speaking.

"I, Gorsestar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Badgerpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

The she-cat could barely hold in her excitement as she replied, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Badgerpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Badgerstalker, in honor of the battle you overcame last night. StarClan honors your spirit and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of WindClan."

Trailpaw was the loudest to cry out Badgerstalker's new name. The she-cat's eyes were gleaming with pride. She obviously loved her name. She lifted her muzzle slightly, closing her unseeing eyes and letting the warmth seep over her pelt. Trailpaw couldn't have been happier.

* * *

It was a few moons later. Badgerstalker had since gotten even better at fighting and hunting. Trailpaw had gained her full medicine cat name – Trailseeker. And the pair was out hunting, giving each other tips to improve their skill. "Shift your weight a bit evener," Badgerstalker whispered to her hunting companion.

"Stop lumbering around like your namesake, first," Trailseeker teased, earning a giggle from Badgerstalker, startling the squirrel they had been stalking. The two sat up, quickly forgetting the squirrel as they threw playful insults at each other, like, "You couldn't even catch the oldest, slowest mouse in the forest, Trailseeker!" and "But what about you? You crash around like the prey's gonna jump into your mouth!" by the end of the unserious insults they were both reduced to uncontrollable laughter, scaring all the nearby prey away.

When Trailseeker managed to regain her control she grew serious and said, "I remember when you first got your injuries. You couldn't even move, you were in so much pain."

Badgerstalker grew silent for a moment then added, "You helped me with everything. You cared for my injuries, you brought me prey each day, and you helped make sure I did at least one exercise a day so I wouldn't get a chest infection."

Trailseeker nodded her head and meowed, "We've come a long way since then." But when the two looked each other in the eye, all Badgerstalker saw was Trailpaw, franticlly worrying over her injuries, and all Trailseeker saw was Badgerpaw, prone in her nest, seeming so tiny with her scarred face, shoulders, and flanks.

The two friends opened their mouths and said a short phrase at the same moment, in a haunting, foreboding tone.

"Or have we?"


End file.
